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Carrie Heffernan
Carrie Spooner Heffernan (nèe Simone Spooner) is one of the 3 central characters on The King of Queens. She is Doug's wife and Arthur's daughter. Carrie is viewed as a sometimes overbearing and bossy woman, mostly by Doug and Holly Shumpert (played by Nicole Sullivan), their "dog walker,". Carrie's best friend on the series is Kelly Palmer (played by Merrin Dungey), the wife of Doug's best friend, Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams), with whom she also went to high school together with. She can be easily angered, mostly by Doug's antics, who throughout the series always finds ways of doing something to get him into her "doghouse". She worked as a legal secretary for the first part of the series, was eventually fired, and began work as a secretary at a real estate firm. Carrie is portrayed by Leah Remini. Childhood Carrie was born as Simone Spooner on February 19, 1969 in Manhattan, New York. However, her father, Arthur, lost her first name in a poker game with her Uncle Chester after which she was renamed Carrie, the initial name of her cousin. Her mother, Sophia, died during her late teenage years, after which she also married her husband, Doug. In high school, Carrie participated in a car jacking with some of her friends, stealing her shop teacher's car, because he threatened to fail her and her friends. Carrie had to work through High School, to help support her father. She did not get to go to college, because Arthur, being a single parent, couldn't afford it. Death Killed by Doug. Her family * Her father, Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller), lives in the couple's basement after losing his home in a fire. Carrie was born Simone Spooner but when she was a child, Arthur lost her name in a poker game which necessitated a switch of name with her cousin Carrie. * Carrie's mother, Sophia Spooner, insisted on having "mother to Simone" engraved on her tombstone. Little is known about Carrie's mother Sophia, except that she died during Carrie's teenage years, leaving Carrie in a state of confusion. * Carrie originally had a sister (or probably, and more specifically, a paternal half-sister) named Sara(portrayed by Lisa Rieffel) who moved in along with Arthur, but after the first season, the character was dropped. * Carrie has two children with Doug in the series finale. They have an adopted daughter, Ming-May, and a second child who is never named. * Spence Olchin became her step-brother when their parents got married. However this doesn't last very long as Arthur & Veronica Olchin get divorced after a year. Career *Carrie was working for a Manhattan law firm, Kaplan, Hornstein & Steckler, for 7 years before being let go along with her boss, Mr. Pruzan. *For a time, between jobs Carrie was shortly self-employed and worked as a dog-walker. *Carrie also worked as a secretary in a Real Estate firm. Development and Impact The character of Carrie was created by David Litt and Michael J. Weithorn. The show was originally created around the character of Doug Heffernan after Kevin James' successful guest appearances on popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. The King of Queens was partly inspired by the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners. Carrie Heffernan is based on the character of Alice Kramden, with similar mannerisms and deadpan expressions. The role was almost accepted by Megan Mullally who turned it down at the last minute to take a role in Will and Grace.[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165581/trivia The King of Queens (1998) "Did You Know?" at IMDb] When Remini's short lived TV series Fired Up was cancelled in February 1998 she was subsequently offered the role of Carrie due to her promising comedic performance. Carrie Heffernan is a popular character in sitcom history. Examiner.com named her the 9th most memorable television wife. Trivia *Her original name was Simone, but Arthur lost the name in a poker game with Uncle Chester. *Carrie learned how to play ping-pong from her father and is able to beat her husband, Doug, in the game. *She is very ticklish, as she was tickled into laughter in several episodes. References Category:Characters Category:Heffernan Family Category:Spooner Family Category:Female